Maude Beatty

While looking through my trunk full of theatre programmes yesterday I found a letter signed by Maud Beatty.

Maud was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1878. Her parents ran the Theatre Royal in that city. She and her younger sister, May, were soon recruited by Pollards Lilliputians, a famous children's theatre troupe.

Maud was famous as a teenager for taking the male lead roles in productions such as Paul Jones. According to Peter Downes, who wrote the definitive book on the pollard company, The Pollards, Maud's physique and voice made her suitable for such roles.

Here is a picture of Maud in tights from an old cigarette card.

By 1904, when the letter below was written, Maud had been to London and was performing at the Theatre Royal, Brisbane doing a variety turn.

In the letter she thanks an admirer for sending her some flowers. So she was obviously a very polite, well brought up lady. Nobody seems to know when Maud died, but she was still performing in 1919 with JC Williamson. Her sister May, two years younger, died in 1945.